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  Delta
Air Lines continues to run a great airline and produced a record $1.2
billion third quarter profit,” said Tony Charaf, Chief Cargo Officer.
“Cargo continues to be a significant contributor to our company’s
success.
“Delta is running a reliable and consistent
operation—we have had a record number of days this year with no
mainline cancellations.
“Considering the state of the global
economy and continued sluggishness, our cargo team has done an excellent
job in delivering on the objectives we set forth in the beginning of the
year with respect to revenue and operational reliability.
“Our domestic market has been performing
well. The new transcontinental, wide-body, pallet-capable aircraft introduced
earlier this year between LAX and JFK has allowed us to grow our perishable
business from the northeast to LAX, and also supports our business to
Europe from LAX.
“U.S. export continues to be a challenge
due to abundance of gateway capacity and freighters coming into the market,
so we are focusing on our strong lanes and making use of our overall network.
“The Middle East and Africa markets
are performing well and we are seeing additional opportunities to Asia
via DTW, where we have strong lift. Delta expects to see continued growth
in our business to Asia via our hub in SEA, where we have recently announced
new service to HKG and ICN starting in 2014.
“We are seeing strong demand from
Asia to Latin America right now, especially in Brazil, Chile and Peru.
“Our ability to perform same-day connections
to these markets from our Asian origins is very attractive to customers,
cuts transit time and saves our customers money with a single air waybill.
“Latin northbound movements are also
doing well, driven by a strong perishable season, especially with asparagus
out of Lima.
“Certain markets from EMEIA to the
U.S. have been performing well for us such as Germany, Italy, and India,
to name a few. Los Angeles has become a very popular destination from
EMEIA and we are pleased with the response our daily widebody PMC-capable
schedule between New York-JFK and Los Angeles is receiving in the EMEIA
market.
“Los Angeles is now our third most
popular destination from EMEIA!”
 “But
when I think of success, my first thought is our people.
“The Delta Cargo team is comprised
of people who are dedicated to serving our customers and to being there
for each other.
“A core tenet of Delta is to take
care of our people, who in turn take care of our customers, and this provides
value for our shareholders.
“Delta has a program called the Chairman’s
Club where our people are recognized by their peers, and this year the
cargo team recognized more than 330 of their peers for exemplary service.
“This week, as Air Cargo Americas
is being, held three of our cargo nominees will be recognized as honorees
at our chairman’s club gala, which is an absolutely amazing event
attended by senior leaders across the company.
“The cargo organization has really
come together this year and has made solid progress towards improving
operational performance to provide greater reliability for our customers.
“We know that there is still room
for improvement and we will continue to focus on running the most reliable
cargo airline in the industry.”
"We have been afforded the opportunity
to invest in our organization with the addition of Sharon Poindexter as
our new director of eCommerce and Technology and Lisa Wallace, who also
joined our team recently as our director of revenue management and alliances.
“The team has worked closely to further
develop our joint venture with AF, KL, and AZ.
“We completed an important step forward
in April when Delta began selling all capacity in the Boston market.
“This partnership is very important
to our company and will continue to evolve.”
“We are also excited about our new
opportunity with Virgin Atlantic. Delta has acquired a 49 percent ownership
stake in Virgin Atlantic and was pleased with the decision by the U.S.
Department of Transportation to grant antitrust immunity for our trans-Atlantic
alliance.
“This will let us expand choices for
customers by allowing for a closer relationship and the ability to cooperate
on routes between the UK and North America. Virgin is a wonderful airline
with a fantastic brand and we are excited to bring our teams together
to provide value to our customers.”
“Our outlook for next year is similar
to what we have experienced this year—while air freight will continue
to play an important role in global trade, we need to be realistic about
next year and the factors that will continue to impact air freight.
“Air cargo’s share of global
trade is being affected by the modal shift from air to ocean which will
likely continue, and by excess capacity in the market as orders of wide-body
aircraft are deployed, which ultimately has an impact on yields as carriers
look to fill this space.
“Near-shoring, while not a big factor
today, is also something which we need to be aware of, as companies look
to manufacture in countries where labor costs are not on the rise and
products can be produced closer to the end consumer.
“For example, electronic companies
are moving production from Asia to Mexico, which affords them the option
to move product into the U.S. via truck.”
 “For
2014, Delta Cargo will continue to build our premium product portfolio
which includes pharmaceuticals, automobiles, perishables, valuables, and
DASH, our domestic small package express product.
“This is such an important aspect
of our strategy that we have created a dedicated position to drive this
effort.
“Alex Clayton, who was previously
our regional sales manager in Los Angeles, will be leading this charge
and she has the perfect background and experience in the industry to be
successful.
"It is important that we are proactive
in providing updates to our customers throughout the shipment lifecycle
for these high value products. An integral part of this service is our
GPS tracking offering.”
“Having recently launched an Equation
team in Atlanta operations, which is a dedicated team that supports the
movement of our international express shipments, next came our Cargo Logistics
Manager (CLM) product in Atlanta that is being deployed to other cities
right now and will be continued in 2014.
“CLM gives our operations team real-time
visibility to all freight coming into or leaving Atlanta in one central
location, allowing for quick recovery when shipments do not move as planned.”
“Phase II of deltacargo.com will launch
later this year with enhanced functionality, including a new booking platform
that allows eAWB submission.
“Removing paper from our business
and enhancing our eCommerce business is a strategic priority both for
Delta and the industry. Sharon, who I mentioned earlier, with 13 years
of experience in eCommerce is committed to positioning Delta Cargo to
be the leader in the industry.”
“Delta Cargo will continue to invest
in our Customer Service Centers during 2014. A new option will be deployed
called Virtual Hold, which will provide our customers an option to be
called back at a designated time instead of staying on hold waiting for
their call to be answered.
“This functionality has been very
successful on the passenger side of our business and we are excited about
the opportunity to offer this to our cargo customers as well.”
“Our premium products continue to
grow.
“Year-to-date through September, our
Variation Pharma product revenue and volume are up and importantly, shipment
count is up double digits. As a result Delta cargo is expanding the Pharma
network even before the year is over by adding locations and making further
investments in training.
“The Variation Wheels product was
launched two years ago and has really taken off.
“VW (dare I say it?) is performing
very well, especially from Germany and the UK, where consignments include
prototype and test vehicles to various destinations in the U.S.
“We’ve been gratified by the
customer response to this service and of course our employees love opening
the belly of a 767 or 777 and seeing hose hot wheels with a car or motorcycle
aboard!”
“Another interesting commodity is
what we’re moving from Palau to Japan. The Delta Pacific cargo sales
team this past August set a company record moving 10,922Kg of fresh tuna
to Tokyo in a B757.”
Tony Charaf was named Chief Cargo Officer just
14 months ago. He is a 17-year veteran of the company, including four
years prior service as head of Delta Cargo. Tony knows how to airline
as few others.
Charaf earned his Bachelor's degree in Engineering
and a Master's degree in Management from Northrop University. He holds
an A&P license as well as a private pilot license,
Charaf also sits on several non-profit boards,
including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Carter Center in
Atlanta, and the Red Cross Atlanta Chapter. In addition, he serves on
the advisory board of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
“Our postal customers are very important to Delta,” Tony Charaf
said.
"Mail is one of our core products and complements
our global network and fleet very nicely. Postal traffic is a growth channel
for us and it makes a substantial contribution to our overall revenue.
“Nick Whalen is our general manager of
postal affairs and is active on both the IATA Air Mail Panel and on the
IATA Contact Committee to the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
“While letter-class mail has declined over
recent years, we are seeing very strong growth in the commercial parcel
traffic in both the B2B and business to residence sector.
“Most postal authorities around the world
are very tech savvy and are required to meet stringent service standards
measured throughout the chain. This means we must continue to focus on
providing a quality product and on-time-performance to win and maintain
postal contracts.
“Freight Forwarders are extremely important
to our business; they are the customers we serve.
“At Delta, we want to provide complete
transparency for the customer, to inform them not only when shipments
move as expected, but also to let them know when a shipment has not moved
and our recovery plan.
“Our sales team works very closely with
the Forwarding community and has established excellent relationships built
on a foundation of trust and mutual respect. Enhancing the sales team
effort are the Delta Cargo and Airport Customer Service employees who
are the key to our success on the ground.
“In addition to industry trade events,
Delta Cargo actively participates in local organizations such as the Atlanta
Air Cargo Association, the JFK Air Cargo Association, and many others.
We host local customer events both individually and with our JV partners
AF/KL.
“Delta Cargo also hosts meetings where
our key customers engage in dialogue with Delta’s senior leaders,
including our CEO Richard Anderson and our President Ed Bastian. Meetings
such as these and others are so important because we listen to our customers
and learn about improvements that can be made to our business to better
serve them.
“Personally, I am fortunate for the time
my team and I have been afforded to meet with our customers and the opportunities
to speak at several industry events—this is always a great experience
and something which I really enjoy.
“At Delta, we want to provide complete
transparency for the customer, to inform them not only when shipments
move as expected, but also to let them know when a shipment has not moved
and our recovery plan.”
“I strongly believe that as an industry,
cargo has made very little progress in technology platforms, particularly
in the implementation of e-freight.
“I was surprised that the technology being
used today is essentially unchanged since I left cargo in 2004.
"In terms of concerns, we are always thinking about what we could
be doing differently to push the eCommerce message to more of the market
and collectively increase electronic air waybill useage and the number
of eFreight shipments.
“While Delta is the leader among North
American carriers at the moment, there is a lot of progress still to be
made by the industry on this front.
“The momentum is building, and more and
more of our customers are adopting the IATA Multilateral agreement and
taking the first steps towards paperless transactions.
“We need more freight forwarders and more
airlines to embrace this change. Speed is important here."
“My personal outlook is to continue to do what I am doing in leading
the Delta Cargo team to deliver on our goal as the best in the industry.
We have a committed leadership team that includes Ray Curtis, vice president
of sales, (pictured here with Tony); Scott  Barkley,
(right) managing director of operations; Linda Biere, director of finance;
Lisa Wallace, director of revenue management; and Sharon Poindexter, director
of eCommerce.
“Collectively, they lead a group of professional
men and women in the business who have a strong, winning spirit and who
epitomize the Delta culture. Delta is making a difference in the airline
industry and cargo is a key part of our company’s strategy to win
not only now, but in years to come.
“I am most proud of having the opportunity
to work at this wonderful company and for the people with whom I have
had the fortune of working. There is nothing that I would change from
the past. I have learned from my failures and all of my experiences, both
good and bad, and that is what has made me who I am today.”
Geoffrey/Flossie
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Any
number of U.S. flags that are part of the CRAF program are utilized
to move troops and critical supplies to and from the U.S. to forward
bases in the world.
We
also take a moment to say thanks to everyone who stood up for our great
country.
